Crosby MS principal’s childhood catalyzes career in education

Published 12:58 pm, Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Todd Hicks began his education career as an Agricultural Science teacher before moving into administration.

Todd Hicks began his education career as an Agricultural Science teacher before moving into administration.

Photo: Nate Brown

Crosby MS principal’s childhood catalyzes career in education

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Reporter’s note: The month of October is National Principal’s Month. As such, the Observers will be featuring area principals throughout the month in an effort to highlight their contribution to our community’s youth.

Todd Hicks always had education in his Central Texas roots, being raised by two educators on a ranch just outside of Corsicana.

The seeds planted in his youth, such as spending afternoons at his parents’ campuses after school, according to Hicks, undoubtedly played a part in his career in education that sees him today as the principal of Crosby Middle School.

“When you start out and both of your parents are in education, you are much more likely to enter the profession yourself,” Hicks said. “School is work, it’s home. You not only go to school but then you hear all the stories from the day from your parents’ schools, so it was just a unique situation.”

As a young man in rural Texas, Hicks actually eyed an agricultural degree in college, but decided a teaching certificate would offer a viable fall-back.

“I did not intend on making education my first career choice,” Hicks said. “I thought originally to go into veterinary medicine. When I got into college, I decided to go along with that career path but also get my teaching certificate so that I would always have a sense of security as far as a career goes - I’d always have a meaningful career if I chose to go that route.

“My degree is in agricultural economics. When I got done with my master’s degree, I reached a point where it was decision time. I decided to go into education.”

Hicks’ first teaching position was at Humble High School as an Ag Science teacher for five years before deciding to move to administration.

“I have an interest in leadership and the business aspects of how organizations work,” Hicks said. “I knew administration was an interest for me. It was combining working with the students with managerial aspects.”

Hicks became an assistant principal at Humble High School and then later opened Ross Sterling (which at the time was a ninth-grade campus) as a middle school before moving to Crosby Middle School.

“This job is particularly meaningful to me because the whole time I was working in Humble, I was living in Crosby and my kids were going to be attending Crosby schools,” Hicks said. “I like the small-town feel and I like the atmosphere so when the opportunity came up to interview for the Crosby position, it was quite an ideal situation; it was definitely a job I wanted.”

The switch from the classroom to the front office, according to Hicks, gave Hicks the scope to impact not only the students in his classroom, but students, parents, building staff and the community in general.

“You are very focused when you are in the classroom because you are focused on your students, your students’ learning and making sure you provide an overall atmosphere of success, so it’s all about the kids but its only about the kids in the subject you are teaching,” Hicks said. “When you transition to an administrative capacity, the doors just open and you have a much broader capacity. It’s still about kids - that’s why we’re in the industry that we’re in — but it’s no longer just one subject, it’s every subject. So as an administrator, you have to look into all facets.”

Ultimately, Hicks said his position still revolves around one thing: people.

“I love the interaction with people, students, parents, teachers and staff members,” Hicks said. “We work in a people business.”